


The greastest thing you'll ever learn (is just to love and be loved in return)

by Manwameldiel



Series: All you need is love [2]
Category: Richlee - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 09:44:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4055410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manwameldiel/pseuds/Manwameldiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Sequel to Consequences of falling,  takes place some time after the hobbit trilogy. Richard and Lee continue to be adorable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The greastest thing you'll ever learn (is just to love and be loved in return)

**Author's Note:**

> here comes the sequel to consequences of falling, it's as cheesy as the first one but I hope it works, thinking about making it a trilogy and yeah, I hope you'll enjoy reading this

Lee was sitting on the porch of his and Richard's cottage. They had bought it a short time after they had finished working on the hobbit the battle of the five armies. It wasn't very big but it was enough for the two them and Carl, Lee's dog. It was also located on a very beautiful place, in the country by a small lake, where the sunsets were marvelous and they could be alone. Lee loved this place, he often came there with Richard or just simply alone and this time he had come alone with Carl, well only because Richard was still working and wouldn't be able to get there in a couple of hours. There was something about this place that made Lee feel at ease, forget all problems and simply relax. The way this place made Lee so peaceful was unbelievable, it was also a very good place to think. Lee felt so happy, he had this place, he had Carl and he had Richard, it was all he needed. He often wished to stay there forever, in his not so big not so small house, with Richard and Carl. Richard and Lee had been together for some time now, they had started dating while working on the desolation of Smaug. Lee remembered when Richard had thought that Lee would forget about him after filming, how wrong he had been. Whenever they hadn't been able to see each other, Richard was all Lee could think of, in fact Richard was about all Lee could ever think of, he loved him so much and wished they could stay together for the rest of their lives. Of course they wouldn't always be able to see each other because of the acting but Lee didn't mind that, he simply wished to love Richard for the rest of his life, and for Richard to love him back. Lee hadn't realized it was getting darker until Carl barked/asked to go back inside.  
~  
It was already dark when Richard got into his car,finally. He had recieved a text from Lee hours earlier that he had arrived at their cottage. As Richard had his vacation from filming over the weekend, him and Lee had decided to stay there over that weekend. But Richard had gotten of the set very late unfortunately, but they still had Saturday and Sunday to enjoy together.  
After about forty minutes of driving Richard finally arrived to their little cottage he loved so much, he got inside to find Lee curled up on the bed asleep hugging Carl who secretly wanted to go away. Richard let out a chuckle, put on his pajamas and sat down on the bed. "I'll take it from here" he said to Carl who gratefully jumped of the bed and made himself comfortable on his blanket in the corner of the room. Richard felt movement on the bed and saw Lee had woken up when Carl had gone and half sat on his elbows. "Hi, when did you come?" Richard lay down beside Lee who let himself fall on his back again. "I just arrived, you been here long?" "Well, I came here sometime around fou..." Lee rubbed his face into his pillow, like he sometimes did when tired, as he ended his sentence so there was no possibility for Richard to understand what he said, but that was okay, he saw Lee was tired and so was he. Richard couldn't help but smile at Lee, whose hair was ruffled and had a few days old beard and was just simply so adorable. "What?" Lee had caught him staring and looked a little annoyed, "I love you" he answered. When Lee smiled at that Richard's heart did that little thing it always did when he saw the other man smile. That little thing that felt like a candlelight, bright and warm, but soft and sweet and tender. "I love you too" Lee took Richard's hand and fell asleep again. Richard stayed awake a little longer, looking at Lee, thinking. How did I get so lucky, what did I do to deserve this all? He thought. He didn't want anything to go away, he didn't want things to change. He wanted things like this, always. He wanted to be able to go to sleep and wake up next to Lee, he wanted the first face he would see in mornings and the last to see before falling asleep to be Lee's. As Richard thought this he looked over at Lee's hand and imagined a golden ring circling one of Lee's fingers. He smiled and went to sleep.  
~  
Lee stood in their little kitchen making himself a piece of toast. It was only 08:30 but the sun had woken him up so early, he had to talk to Richard about getting better curtains for their bedroom, the hour the sun sometimes woke them up was just not natural. The radio was on so Lee hadn't heard Richard arrive until he felt the other man's hands on his shoulders and heard a loud "BOO!" He jumped and turned quickly around pointing the knife he was holding at Richard while the other hand accidentally slammed the peanut butter jar to the floor. "Shit! Richard! Never do that again to me" he said half laughing. He didn't want to laugh but Richard always found it so funny when he startled Lee that it amused him. "Sorry" Richard said as he took up the jar and put it back on the counter. "So what are we having?" He asked as he tried to look past Lee's shoulder. Lee answered, still pointing the knife at Richard "I am having toast with peanut butter, but you on the other hand, get nothing". He put the peanut butter back in the fridge, took his toast, sat down by the kitchen table and started eating. "All right, only wanted some coffee anyways". After pouring himself a cup Richard poured Lee one and handed it over to him. "Good morning by the way" Lee said as he took a sip. "Good morning" Richard sat down opposite Lee. "By the way, we need other curtains for the bedroom. These ones are definitely not working." Richard chuckled, "what? They're not, they wake me up in the middle of the night every weekend" "eight o'clock in the morning is not middle of the night". "On Saturdays, it is" Lee said as he bit his toast. "It's nice" Richard suddenly said, "No Richard, it's not nice waking up in the middle of the... sorry, eight o'clock in the morning when you want to be able to sleep in". "No, I mean talking like this to you, about such simple things, that's nice". Lee was a bit surprised at this comment, though it was nice. "we talk like this everyday, why are you mentioning it now?" "I don't know, I just think it's nice". "Yeah it's... it's nice". "Simple everyday life with you is an adventure, Lee". Lee didn't know how to respond to that, Richard did sometimes say things like that all of a sudden but, this felt different. The way Richard looked into Lee's eyes was different and it made Lee's heartbeat quicken. But he simply looked at Richard who sat smiling at him from the other end of the table and blushed and knew that Richard saw it, but he didn't mind. He simply drank the rest of his coffee and said "So is simply everyday life with you as well".  
~  
Richard had enjoyed the weekend with Lee. They had spend the Saturday outside by the lake and half of Sunday laying lazily in bed. Richard wished he didn't have to go, Lee had asked him to stay one more night, Richard had really wanted to but he had to start work so early next morning, Lee had looked a bit disappointed but said he understood. Richard had been thinking a lot about him and Lee recently, about what will happen between them. He enjoyed every single moment he spent with Lee and hoped Lee felt the same for him. Richard didn't know if Lee wanted the same things he wanted, if Lee was ready. Richard had been thinking about proposing to Lee for sometime, it always felt too soon though. But after that weekend Richard had begun thinking, what if it wasn't? What if it wasn't too soon? What if in fact it was the right time? But he didn't know for sure, how could he? He had never felt like this before, things had never been so wonderfully complicated with any other person before. Do I love Lee? I do. Does he love me? I think he does, yes he does. Do I want to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him? YES! More than anything. Does he want the same? I don't know. This Richard thought as he drove back to the city. Lee had stayed behind in their cottage, he hadn't gotten any parts for a while and he liked it. Lee liked having some time of acting, even though it meant getting no money, it was worth it, he had said. Richard thought all the way back in the car if he should do it. If he should propose to Lee. Going on and off like yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes. So Richard decided, he would propose to Lee, but only when the right time comes, he thought.  
~  
Lee felt lonely, it was suddenly too quiet for him, he wished Richard had stayed just another night, but the other man had been right, he couldn't. Why didn't I go with him? Lee thought to himself. But then he remembered, he wanted to stay here. Just needed some time away from everything. But not from Richard, he thought. Lee loved Richard, he felt like he didn't say that often enough, but he did. Richard's laugh, his smile, his eyes, his tender touch, his deep voice, his soft heart. The fact that Richard loved him was the greatest thing in the world.  
Lee remembered what Richard had said the day before: "Simple everyday life with you is an adventure, Lee". What had he really meant? Was he just using other words for I love you or was it something else? Simple everyday life with you is an adventure. It sure was with Richard, you could never know what that man was thinking or what he would decide to do, if it was startling you or splashing water all over you or being very sweet and romantic. Richard had done all these that weekend and Lee loved it, how Richard could turn from a complete dork and into a gentleman. Lee went outside, wearing one of Richard's sweaters and like two days before, sat down on the porch. Where were they heading? Lee thought. He knew their relationship meant a lot to Richard and so it did to Lee. He knew wherever they were heading it was someplace nice, maybe they were already there. There was needing something, though. Lee wasn't quite sure what is was but it definitely was something. What could possibly be needed? It was a mystery to Lee as he sat there wondering. When Richard had left Lee had felt loneliness. You are gonna see him again, it's not like he's gone forever, just for a few days, he said to himself. But still he wasn't sure, wasn't sure what he was thinking, what he was wondering about. At the moment Lee wasn't sure about anything, all these complicated thoughts made him confused and tired so he decided to go to bed.  
~  
Three days later Richard sat on his bed in his hotel room, listening to the radio. What made Lee confused was clear to Richard, where were they heading? To a future, bright and beautiful, together. Their lives were already bright and beautiful and they were together, but there was more Richard had in mind. But he still wasn't sure if it was the right choice, there was always a little part of him that told him not to. So to be certain, well as certain as could he possibly be now he admitted he needed help to know if it indeed was the right choice, so he called his good friend he had worked on the hobbit with and who had helped him realizing his feelings for Lee, Martin Freeman.  
Martin picked up the phone only few seconds later. "Hello?" "Hi, it's Richard" "Really I had no idea, 'cause it's not like your name and face popped up on my screen when you just called, no of course not. Why would you think that?" Richard had never met anyone else with as much sarcasm as Martin and it probably would never happen. "How are things going with you and your elven king?" "That's sort of the reason why I called you". "What did you screw up now, Richard?" "I didn't screw anything up. At least not yet". "Well then what could you be about to screw up?" "Possibly a proposal". Even though him and Martin weren't in the same room, Richard could hear Martin smirk. "Soooooo. When did that cross your mind?" "Just... not so long ago" "And why, is that a problem?" "That I could screw it all up. That would be a problem, yes!" He heard Martin sigh, "I'm not talking about that. Well of course if you would fuck this up it would be a problem, but why do you think that's gonna happen?" Richard didn't know how he could say it, "I... I don't know. What if... What if Lee isn't ready for that, yet. What if he freaks out or something". Richard had already begun rethinking his decision about proposing to Lee, until Martin asked him. "Lee loves you doesn't he?" "Yes" "and you love him, don't you?" "Yes, of course I do, why would I be proposing to someone I didn't love?" "Well, there you have it". Richard was now confused, then Martin continued. "You love him and he loves you. Well, okay, if he's not ready to get married you can talk about it and then come to a conclusion like actual grown ups freaking do! Really Richard, this isn't math. You should have been able to see that this is what you'll do. You propose and if he says no then okay, he's not ready. Lee's a sweet guy, he wouldn't want to hurt you and would therefore probably want to talk to you about it. Whether he says yes or no, the two if you are gonna stay together for a long time. And if I may be honest, I'll say you stay together for the rest of you lives". Richard was speechless, what Martin had just said opened his eyes in another way, him and Lee loved each other, they would make things work no matter what. "Thanks, Martin. That was really helpful". "Always a pleasure, just let me know if there will be any wedding bells ringing for you two". "I'll make sure to do that, bye". As Richard thought about his conversation with Martin he came to a decision, he would ask Lee. Because he loved Lee and Lee loved him, nothing else mattered.  
~  
The next weekend, Lee had already gotten a part in a play, a small part but that was still work. He had gotten his script a couple of days before and now sat in the car beside Richard on their way to their cottage, two weekends in a row, it was great. Richard sometimes had a vacation over the weekends if the filming went well, his part in a movie he was in was not a big one, which meant he didn't need to be there on the set constantly. Since Lee's part wasn't such a big one either he didn't need to be there when rehearsals were going the first weekend, but he still needed to learn his lines and what to do. Even though he was really focused getting to know this new character he would be playing he noticed Richard looked nervous, occasionally running his fingers through his hair. When Lee saw Richard clenching and unclenching his fists on the steering wheel and take a deep breath Lee got a little worried, "Richard, are you alright?" "Hmm? Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Richard didn't look fine to Lee. He put down his script and turned a little in his seat so he could look more clearly at the other man. "Richard, something is troubling you, I can see that". Richard simply sighed but said a short while later: "I'm alright we'll talk about this later, okay?" Richard tone was harsh "Okay". Lee was really worried, he wasn't used to seeing Richard like that, maybe something had happened on the set earlier that day, something that had upset Richard so much. Or maybe Lee had done something, he couldn't remember doing anything that could have possibly upset Richard but, Richard was a complicated man. "I'm so sorry, Lee, I'm just a little tired". Lee saw that Richard really wasn't tired but clearly needed some time to think, "Hey, stop the car, I'll drive the rest". "No, Lee, you need to go over your script". "You need some time to think clearly, I can see that. And you can't do that while driving, I know you". Lee knew that Richard knew there was no arguing with him, so he stopped the car and they switched seats and Lee drove the rest of the way, occasionally looking over at Richard who sat there deep in thought.  
~  
Richard had planned on proposing that night, he was going to. But he was nervous. Even though he knew it wouldn't be as hard as he thought, it was Lee after all, there was still always that little part of him shouting that it was a bad idea. But Richard loved Lee so much and he wanted them to be... well, what was it that Richard wanted the two of them to be, he didn't even know, closer? How could they get any closer than they already were? There was something needed though, Richard could feel it in his heart.  
When they arrived Lee went straight to reading the rest of his script. When Richard saw that Lee was completely lost in it, he went to the bathroom and locked the door. He took out the box from his pocket,opened it and looked at the ring, it was quite simple. Made of silver, with a small diamond in the middle. He hoped Lee would like it, Lee usually liked simple things and Richard really hoped it meant the same for engagement rings. Richard turned to the sink, splashed cold water over his face and took a deep breath before looking in the mirror and deciding "tonight".  
They ate dinner around eight o'clock. Lee telling Richard about the play and his character and this and that about the story line while Richard's palms were sweating. Afterwards Lee did the dishes while Richard went outside on the porch. The evening was beautiful, slight breeze in the air but it was not cold, it also actually happened to be a full moon that night, what were the chances? After a while Richard heard the sound of a door opening and turned to see Lee joining him. They simply stood there side by side for a while until Lee asked, "What's going on? You've been nervous since in the car. Is anything wrong? Richard?" Richard looked up to see Lee's worried face, took the other man's hand and smiled. "No, nothing is wrong, at least I think not", "but there is still something going on. I know it but I don't what it is. Please, will you tell me?" This was the moment. He took Lee's other hand as well and pulled him a few feet from the wall, so they were standing face to face. Richard looked into Lee's eyes as he began: "Lee, I have been in love with you for some time now and it has been the greatest time of my life. I have never loved another person as much as I love you, my love for you has driven me insane". Richard could see that Lee was still worried, uncertain of what was about to happen, so he continued: "There was a time when I doubted your love for me, and I'm sorry about it, I thought... and sometimes wonder still if I really do deserve your love, if I'm worthy of it". "You do, Richard. You do deserve my love, more than anyone and you always have. Where exactly are you going with this?" Richard took a deep breath as he said: "I'm going somewhere, hoping you will come with me" Lee looked more confused than ever. "Where I'm going is to a place only love can take us, a place where I can only be if you are there with me". As Richard took out the box Lee covered his mouth with his hands as he realized. "Lee Grinner Pace, the love of my life, my friend, my savior" Richard opened the box, "Will you marry me?" As Lee removed his hands from his face, Richard saw Lee slightly nod his head before answering "Yes. Oh my god, Richard, yes, yes of course I'll marry you!"  
~

Lee had never been this happy and surprised at the same time ever in his life. He hadn't had the slightest idea that Richard would ever propose, nor had he ever thought before if he even wanted to marry Richard, but he remembered only five days before feeling that something was needed. When Richard had started talking about how much he loved Lee that it drove him insane, Lee had been worried something bad was about to happen, but then Richard had taken out the ring and Lee knew what was about to happen. Even though he hadn't been prepared for a moment like this, that didn't need, he knew what he would answer: "Yes. Oh my god, Richard, yes, yes of course I'll marry you!"  
He almost jumped over his lover as he kissed him, still trying to figure out what Richard had just asked him, he had asked Lee to marry him and Lee had said yes. Yes. He was going to marry Richard Crispin Armitage and he couldn't believe it. It happened all so fast and yet it didn't feel like too soon. Though they only met each other not three years ago, it felt right. It was as they had always been meant to be together, it sounded cliché but Lee felt that way. That he belonged with Richard. As he drew away from the kiss, Lee looked into Richard's eyes and saw the other man was crying, but knew it was because he was so happy and so was Lee, so happy that it made him cry as well. There they stood like idiots in each other's arms, crying and laughing at the same time, unable to let go. "I love you. Oh, I love you so much, Richard Armitage. I don't tell you that often enough, but I do. I do love you with all my heart and mind and body and soul and with everything that I am. There is no stronger force on this earth than the love that I have for you, there never was and there never will be. I am so lucky to have met you and I couldn't imagine my whole existence without you".  
When Lee held his speech about his feelings Richard had listened to every word, lost in Lee's eyes. So lost and so in love he had almost dropped the ring. Lee had said yes, Lee wanted to marry him. Richard felt like the happiest man on earth, the man he loved had said yes to his proposal. Lee loved Richard with all his heart, mind, body and soul, he had said that there was no stronger force on this earth than his love. "I think there is a little bit stronger force on this earth" he said as Lee kept stroking Richard's cheek. "And what could that be?" The other man asked, "The love we have for each other". Lee chuckled, "Yes, I guess that is the strongest force on earth, in fact it could be the strongest force in the universe" he said as he leaned in for another kiss. Their lips touching softly yet the kiss was full of passion and love. Lee's arms over Richard's upper arms as his hands lay over the other mans shoulder blades, Richards arms around Lee's waist, one hand still holding the small box. When they drew away from each other, Richard opened the box again and took out the ring, Lee lifted his hand and Richard put the ring on one of Lee's finger, it fitted perfectly. Then Lee pulled Richard in for another kiss before they headed back inside.  
~


End file.
